Ten days after a Taiwanese boat sank following a collision with a Japanese patrol vessel near the disputed Diaoyutai (釣魚台) islands, a representative from Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan visited the home of the fishing boat captain and offered an apology yesterday.
Deputy chief representative of the Interchange Association Hitoshi Funamachi visited Taiwanese boat captain Ho Hung-yi (何鴻義) at his home in Ruifang Township (瑞芳), Taipei County, to personally deliver a letter of apology written by Hideo Nasu, head of the 11th Operational Region of the Japan Coast Guard.
“I bow and once again offer my sincere apologies to you over the sinking of your boat and the injuries you sustained during the collision,” Funamachi said to Ho, reading from Nasu’s letter. “I hope we will begin negotiations soon on compensation, in accordance with the law.”
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
Nasu had also bowed at a televised press conference in Japan several days ago in apology over the accident.
Ho accepted Nasu’s apology, saying he was “very pleased” with the way that the Japan Coast Guard official was handling the aftermath of the accident, in which Ho lost his boat and sustained several injuries.
Meanwhile, after a 30-minute closed door meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) yesterday afternoon, Tadashi Ikeda, the chief representative of the Interchange Association, said he hoped the peaceful end to the ordeal would strengthen Taiwan-Japan relations.
Standing next to Ou, Ikeda said he was pleased to see that Taiwan and Japan could “overcome the difficult situation together.”
“The Japanese have a saying that after the rain, the ground will be more solid and firm. I hope that Japan-Taiwan relations will continue to improve after this ordeal,” Ikeda said.
Ou welcomed the gesture by Japan, calling it a “perfect ending,” but said the next step in resuming negotiations with Tokyo on fishing rights and sovereignty claims would be the “beginning of the real, difficult task.”
The incident took place early in the morning on June 10 when a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat rammed into a Taiwanese fishing boat 11km off the Diaoyutai islands, an island chain claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China.
While the Japanese claim the crash was caused by the Taiwanese boat zigzagging abruptly, Ho insists his boat was stationary.
The Japanese agreed to release the crew and pay reparations, but held off on issuing a formal apology.
In related news, Ou yesterday confirmed that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had officially accepted the resignation of Taiwan’s representative to Japan, Koh Se-kai (許世楷), who asked to be relieved of his duties on Monday.
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
RSS